At the Monday meeting of the Wright County Board of Supervisors, Clarion City Administrator Clint Middleton and City Attorney Zach Chizek appeared before the board to discuss two lots in the Gates Subdivision in the City of Clarion. Chizek explained the history of the property. In 2016, the city entered into an agreement with IHB Technologies, Inc., formerly known as Superior Coating Group, LLC out of Minnesota. The city gave the corporation the lots on the east side of Clarion, plus $200,000 to develop the property. There was also a minimum assessment on the property of $4.3 million. In the years since the agreement, nothing has happened on the property.
The City of Clarion is attempting to get the property back and has been promised a promissory note from the company. However, at this point there is over $150,000 in unpaid taxes on the property that the county would have to abate in order for Clarion to take it back. County Auditor Betty Ellis pointed out if the taxes were abated, that is lost tax money that funds not only the city and the county but also schools and Iowa Central Community College. Chairman Dean Kluss added that it doesn’t seem like the taxes will be paid anytime soon so it might be better to work on an agreement to get to a point where taxes could be generated by a different property owner. No action was taken as everyone agreed that the issue needs to be researched more.
The board discussed various items pertaining to Wright County Engineer Adam Clemons’ employment contract. Currently, Clemons’ services are being shared with Hancock County. However, Hancock County voted to hire their own full-time engineer in their meeting Monday morning and terminate the sharing agreement. Anticipating that, the Wright County board agreed to various amendments made to Clemons’ contract. They extended his contract with the county until June of 2023. His rate of pay will be $123,600 for fiscal year 2021 with a 3% increase in 2022 and a 4% increase in 2023.
Peggy Schluttenhofer, Wright County Treasurer, presented the county’s semi-annual report. She pointed out that there is $650,000 in unpaid property taxes on the books which she attributes to the coronavirus pandemic. The deadline to pay was extended in the governor’s emergency proclamations until July 27.
In the conference call with ISG and Reilly Construction on the Agribusiness Park, Reilly’s rep noted that things at the site should be wrapped up by the end of the week. ISG Engineer Eric Gjersvik said that they will soon after conduct a site review, certifying that everything has been completed according to the plans.
In the weekly COVID-19 update, Sandy McGrath said she expects to see a few new cases trickling in every week. At this time, public health does not have any mass testing planned for the week. They continue to be aggressive with contact tracing and are monitoring nursing home staff since that is a vulnerable population. She added that they have also had some good discussions with the county’s superintendents about steps to take when school resumes.
